Started off going over Stevens Pass and following Rt. 2 along the
Great Northern RR line. I stopped at every small town along the way and
took photos of old buildings and granaries. No campgrounds so I cowboy
camped at a rest area out in the middle of no where complete with
howling coyotes and plenty of stars.

Into Spokane the next morning I stopped at REI to replace the air
mattress that I had I found worthless. Took more photos of old brick
buildings and bought some clip-on sunglasses on my way north out of
town. Stopped for lunch in Sandpoint, watched trains and swimmers at the
park. Then I followed the Clark Fork eastward, through Paradise, down
Envaro hill and to Missoula where I caught a glimpse of the railroad
dome cars that I thought likely would he used on the convention
excursion.

I screwed up and didn't get gas only to go on reserve just as I left
town. What would I find in the next forty miles? Not much of nothing. At
Clinton, I followed the signs for "gas" only to find that the Conico
station had closed 15 minutes before the posted 9 p.m. closing time. Boy
was I pissed. Rather than risk what might not lie ahead I turned back
towards Missoula a dozen miles and gassed up. By then it was getting
dark and though I tried to find a spot along Rocky Creek (looked great
for fishing!) it was impossible so I retreated to a pay campground.
Nice enough spot and again I cowboy camped under the stars. The till
had been closed for the night and wasn't yet opened when I left at 6
a.m. So it was free. The attendant told me not to worry about it.

At Garrison I found they were in the process of tearing down a
perfectly good train depot. What a shame. All the more reason to take
photos of everything remotely railroad when you have the chance. As I
was doing so, the excursion cars arrived on the tail and of a freight
train. More photos.

Almost to my destination in Helena I just couldn't resist the sign
for Mullen Pass, a gravel road over the top. At Blossburg I explored the
black faced tunnel portal and caught a slow freight climbing the hill.
Then up and over I attempted in vane and great peril of burning out my
clutch to find the roughest route to the East portal. Before I stranded
myself really out in the middle of no where I accepted a thorough
exploration of Skyline trestle though I burned one too may photos on the
approaching excision car special and missed the perfect shot of them
crossing the tall trestle. Well, I tried.

Then it was four days of historical convention, meeting old friends
and all sorts of fun stuff in Helena. I forgot what I volunteered myself
for. I'm sure someone will remind me. I took photos of the model contest
and somehow winged it through my presentation. They clapped at the end
so it must have been all right.

The highlight of the Northern Pacific Railway Histocial Association's 2000
Convention was a rail excussion from Helena to Missoula and back over Mullan Pass
including one quarter of the trip riding in the dome car.

On Sunday I headed north. Another bright day but the wind was blowing
so it was a tough run into East Glacier. Slowed me down to 45 mph and
put up with it. Finally arriving in East Glacier I stopped at the
grocery to pick up my dinner. Unfortunately, East Glacier has decided to
fall off the edge of the earth and there were no flesh meats available.
No frozen for that matter. I was still burning off the rich convention
food so I settled for a can of corn, Top Romen and milk for the morning.
As I'm walking back to the bike there are a couple of people gathered
around eating ice cream and commenting on... how it looks like my rear
tire is going flat.

You can imagine how my delight waned. It's an interesting story how I
resolve this situation. I'll do that at a later time. Let's just say it
wasn't easy. There isn't even a working compressor in East Glacier, but
there is a train station...